The stage is set for Bahrain to host the 2017 FIVB Volleyball Boys U19 World Championship, from Friday to August 27.
Twenty teams from all over the globe are competing in the prestigious Federation International de Volleyball (FIVB) event, which will be held at Shaikh Isa Sports City in Riffa.
The teams are the United States, Cuba, Mexico and Puerto Rico representing North and Central America and the Caribbean; Argentina, Brazil and Chile from South America; the Czech Republic, France, Italy, Russia, Turkey and defending champions Poland representing Europe; Egypt and Tunisia from Africa; and China, Iran, Japan, South Korea and hosts Bahrain representing Asia.
Some of the participating nations have already arrived, with Egypt and Japan being among the first to touch down in Bahrain, followed by Cuba and Iran.
Today, several activities will be held off the court. At 10am, a Joint FIVB control meeting and OC meeting will be held. At 11am, there will be an Inspection of the hotel, competition venues, training venues, transportation, sports material and documents.
At 5.30pm, a preliminary enquiry will be held by officials. There will also be a referee clinic on theory at 3.30pm, to be followed at 4.30pm by referee clinic on practical issues. A local referee clinic will also be held at the same time.
The teams have been divided into four pools of five teams each for the preliminary round of competition, which will be played from the opening night until Tuesday.
The top four teams following a round-robin in each pool move on to the next phase.
August 23 will be a rest day after which the round of 16 will be held on August 24. The quarter-finals follow on August 25 and the semi-finals the following day. The gold and bronze medal matches will be played on August 27.
There will also be classification games from August 24 to 26 for the bottom-ranked teams.
Eight matches are scheduled for each day. Two will be held simultaneously in separate halls at Shaikh Isa Sports City. Start times are 1pm, 3pm, 5pm and 7pm on all days.
Tickets cost 500 fils per person and can be purchased at the gate. More information, including the full schedule of matches, can be found online at u19.boys.2017.volleyball.fivb.com.